News in brief - Jan. 3/10, 2005

Marriage often translates into better health - New herpes vaccine outperforms others - Cigarette sales to youths declining - RSV season begins in South, Northeast

Marriage often translates into better health

Married adults are healthier than divorced, widowed or never-married adults, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report, "Marital Status and Health: United States, 1999-2002," was based on interviews with 127,545 adults 18 and older as part of the National Health Interview Survey conducted by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

Among the report's findings:

Nearly 60% of adults are married, 10% are separated or divorced, 6.6% are widowed, 19% never married and 6% are living with a partner.
Married adults are less likely than other adults to be in fair or poor health and are less likely to have headaches and serious psychological stress.
Married adults are less likely to smoke, drink heavily or be physically inactive. However, married men are more likely to be overweight or obese than other men.
Adults who live in cohabiting situations are more likely to have health problems than married adults and more closely resemble divorced and separated adults.

New herpes vaccine outperforms others

A newly developed herpes vaccine capable of fighting the virus that causes the most cases of genital herpes appears to be a strong candidate for testing in humans, according to a study in the January issue of Journal of Virology.

The study compared three different experimental vaccines for herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) and found that a vaccine called dl5-29, developed by Harvard Medical School Professor of Microbiology David Knipe, PhD, outperformed the other two, one of which has already been tested in humans.

The study's lead author, Stephen E. Straus, MD, senior investigator at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said the results of his study argue strongly for taking dl5-29 into human trials.

Dr. Straus and his colleagues found that dl5-29 performed as well as or better than the other two candidates. It was as effective as the glycoprotein vaccine previously tested in humans in preventing acute and recurrent disease in guinea pigs and, when given to previously infected guinea pigs, dl5-29 reduced the rate of recurrent infections slightly better than the other candidates. A key finding was that dl5-29 induced a substantially stronger T-cell response than did either of the two other vaccines.

Cigarette sales to youths declining

Retailers continue to reduce sales of tobacco to children and teens younger than 18, according to data from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Overall, the national retailer violation rate dropped to 13% in reports submitted by states, down from 14% in 2003 and 40% since the annual surveys began in 1996.

The findings are based on reports submitted by states in response to federal law established in 1992 restricting access to tobacco by teens younger than 18. The law, known as the Synar Amendment, requires states and U.S. territories to enact and enforce youth tobacco access laws; conduct annual random, unannounced inspections of tobacco outlets; achieve negotiated annual retailer violation targets; and attain a final goal of 20% or less for retailer noncompliance.

"States that meet their Synar goals share certain characteristics," said SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie. "Generally these states employ a comprehensive strategy that combines vigorous enforcement efforts, political support from the state government and a climate of active social norms that discourage youth tobacco use."

The survey showed that 48 states achieved the goal of retailer sales of cigarettes to minors of no more that 20%, and 38 states achieved a retailer violation rate of no more than 15%.

RSV season begins in South, Northeast

Respiratory syncytial virus outbreaks have been noted in the South and Northeast United States. Public health officials are alerting physicians to consider this virus as a possibility in their patients with lower respiratory tract infection, according to a report in the Dec. 17, 2004, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency is also asking physicians to implement isolation precautions to prevent spread in the health care setting and supply prophylaxis to particularly vulnerable patients, including premature infants and children with chronic lung and heart disease.

Outbreaks started in the South at the end of October 2004 and occurred in the Northeast at the end of November 2004.

The report also noted that the 2003-04 season began in early November 2003, peaked in February 2004 and continued until early April 2004, hitting the South first followed by the Northeast, Midwest and then the West.